Supervisory mechanism



C. E. RENSHAW AND H. C. DAVIS.

SUPERVISORY MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JAUNE 12| I9I9.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

CHAR/LES E. RENSHAW, 0F EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, AND HER-BERT C. DAVIS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., .AS{UIE'rNOREaI TO NEWMAN CLOCK COMPNY, NC., Ol? NEW YORK,

N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SUPERVISORY MEGHANISM.

Application filed .Tune 12, 1919.

To oZZ whom it may concern.'

Be it known that We, lCHARLES E. linnsifmw and HERBERT C. Davis, being` citizens of the United States, residing; at East Orange, county of Essex, and State of NeuY Jersey, and New York, county and State of New York, have invented certain nen-r and useful Improvements in Supervisory Mechanism, of Which the following is a full, clear and exact description.

Valves for controlling the flow of luids are in such common use that they form a component part of practically every mechanical equipment in general use. Under certain conditions it is essential that they should remain open or remain closed at all times except for making,` repairs, extensions or for other recognized purposes; and it is a Well recognized fact that loss of lite and great damage has resulted through oversight or design in permitting the valves to remain closed when their normal position should be open, and vice versa.

The invention which constitutes the subject matter of this application relates to supervisory mechanism, specifically described in connection with sprinkler systems. The use of automatic sprinkler systems is coming more and more into vogue, but Llike all other systems of Water distribution the valves at times must necessarily be closed temporarily in order to effect repairs, to prevent Jfreezing, and for many other purposes. There has been and is a tendency on the part of Workmen to leave one or more of the valves closed, thereby putting a part or the Whole of the system completely out of commission with a result of considerable losses in cases of i'ire.

Our invention therefore has to do with mechanism `adapted to be connected to a valve for controlling the access to a recordu ing key located adjacent thereto. That is to say when the valve is open, as it normally should be, access may be had to the key, but if the valve is closed the key is .not available. As each one of these valves (or stations) is equipped with a key a timeprint may be made on a record dial of a Watchmans clock Which Would indicate the time at which the station `was visited. So long` as these imprints are made at the required intervals, as shown by the record dial, it is a sure indication that the valves Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 303,610.

at these particular times were opened. But if the imprint of a certain station were omitted 'from the record dial it would be al: equally sure indication that the key at that station was inaccessible and therefore the valve was closed. Of course, if it is a part of the Watchmans duty to open the valve he could then make the imprint. In any event the device will have served its purpose.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the detailed description below taken in connection with the accompanying` drawing, in Which- Fig. 1 is an elevation, a valve partly in section illustrating the invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of a key rcceptacle and a portion of its operation means.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 8-3 of lFig. 2.

Referringl to the drawing in detail, the reference numeral 10 designates the water supply to the sprinkler coming from any suitable pipe (not shown). Located in this supply is a valve 11 provided with a yoke 12, a threaded sleeve 13 rotatably mounted in the yoke, valve stem 14 screw-threaded to the sleeve, and a manipulating handle l5 fixed to the sleeve 13 and adapted to rotate the same in order to impart a longitudinal movement to the valve-stem 1e and the gate valve (not shown)V attached thereto.

Operatively connected to the upper end of the valve-stem 14 is a receptacle 2O provided With a door 9.1, the construction of the receptacle beingsuch that it tits the interior of the cylindrical canister 18 rather snugly. The construction is also such that when the stem is in its uppermost position the door 21 may be opened as clearly indiv,

cated in Fig. 1, the door at this t'nne being located adjacent to the cut-away portion 19 ot the canister 18. But it will be obvious, when the Wheel 15 is rotated in the direction to close the valve, that the receptacle 21 will move downwardly thereby causing the door 21 to engage the upper edge of the canister 18 and be closed thereby. The amount of turning` required to close the door When the valve is fully opened Will of course depend upon the relative position oic the canister 1S and the receptacle 20 and upon the degree of inclination of the cntaway portion 19. The arrangement is preferably such that this is accomplished before the wheel 15 has made more than two or three complete rotations.

It will be noted 'that it is relative movement of the receptacle 20 and canister 18 which causes operation of the door 21 to closed position. Vihile this relative movement may be effected by mounting the receptacle 2O so as to be stationary and by operatively connecting the canister 1S to one of the moving parts of the valve, a reverse arrangement has been selected for the purpose of illustration. Thus the receptacle is shown operatively connected to the valve-stem 1liby ineans of an arm 1 and a rod 2. The arm 1 is secured at one end to the upper end of the valve spindle 1dand has secured thereto at its other end a rod 2, the remaining end of which is secured to the receptacle 20. The canister 18 may be secured to the valve yoke 12 by means of brackets 3, t.

To the bottom of the receptacle 21 is secured one end of a chain 25, the other end of which is provided with what is known as a watchmans key 26. The key chain is of sufficient length to allow the key to be normally suspended at a distance sufficient to enable the watchman to make his record. Of course the watchman is supposed to keep the key within the receptacle 2O with the door 21 closed so that a predetermined closing movement of the valve-stem 14 will result in locking the door 21 in its closed position.

A handle 5 may be provided on the door 21 to facilitate the opening and closing of the latter by the watchman. The fit between the receptacle 2O and the canister 18 may preferably be made so snug that the thickness of the chain 25 will not permit closure of the door 21 to a sufficient extent to permit entry of the receptacle into the canister if the key 26 is left outside of receptacle. Such a Construction constitutes means for preventing closure of the valve unless the key is within its receptacle for it will be apparent that the stem 14 cannot be lowered to close the valve unless the receptacle can enter the canister'.

Even though sufficient clearance were provided between the receptacle and the canister to permit entry of the former into the latter with the key outside the receptacle, the chain 25 may be made short enough to prevent the recording clock to be brought into operative engagement with the key 26 unless the receptacle is in its uppermost position, i. e., when the valve is open. lilith either structure the key is rendered inaccessible or inoperative when the valve is closed.

Although the elements 18, 2O are shown mounted comparatively close to the valve it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that said elements may be remotely located in the event that the valve is located in an inconvenient place. This may be accomplished by lengthening` the connection 1 or 2 or both and by securingl the canister 18 to any suitable stationary support instead of to the yoke 12.

From the foregoing `it will be seen that we have provided a simple mechanism to prevent thc watchman from making a record while visiting any particular station, providing the valve is not in normal. position. In operation the supervisor visits each valve equipped with our invention and if the valve is found to be closed or open as the particular system requires, it is then possible for him to obtain the key in order to make a registration upon his watchmans clock, which is indisputable evidence that the valve was at that time and place in normal position. If, however, the supervisor should be unable to obtain the key he would then know that the valve is not in its normal position, and he would thus be unable to effect the registration until the valve had been restored to normal position. And if the dial on the watchmans clock does not show a registration covering all the valves which he is required to supervise it could be readily determined which valve or valves he had found not to be in normal position.

The constructions illustrated and described are merely the preferred embodiments of our invention and it is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves thereto as it is obvious not only that many changes may be made in point of detail but that other embodiments may be resorted to without department from the true spirit and scope of our invention.

What we claim is:

1. In combination, a valve, a key receptacle having a closure, stationary means for preventingl opening of said closure when said receptacle is in a predetermined position with respect to said means, and meansfor causing movement of said receptacle on operation of said valve.

2. The combination with a valve provided with a stem, of a manipulating member for imparting a longitudinal movement to said stem, a key receptacle connected to said stem and provided with a door, and stationary means adapted to close said door when the valve is moved from its normal position.

3. The combination with a valve pro vided with an operating member and a member operated thereby, a key receptacle connected to one of said members and provided with a door for controlling access to a key, and stationary means adapted to close said door when the valve is moved from its normal position.

measles 4. The combination With a valve provided with an operating member and a member operated thereby, of a key receptacle connected to one of said members and provided with a door normally iny position to provide access to said receptacle, and stationary means for preventing opening of said door when the valve is moved from its normal position. v

5. The combination witha valve provided with a casing, an operating,` member and a member operated thereby, of a key receptacle, operative connections between said receptacle and one of said members, a door for controlling access to said receptacle, and means lixed with respect to said casing for preventing opening of said door When the valve is moved from its normal position.

G. The combination With a valve comprising a casing, of a key receptacle having a normally movable door, and means comprising an element fixed with relation to said casing for closingsaid door on closure of said valve.

T. The combination with a valve, ot a key receptacle having a door, a key, means for preventing opening of said door when said valve is closed and means for preventing closure ot said valve unless said key is within said receptacle.

8. In combination, a valve, a watchmans key, means for controlling.;- access to said key, and means for preventing actuation of said valve to an abnormal position unless said key is inaccessible.

9. A supervisory mechanism as set forth in claim 2 in which means are provided for preventing closure of the valve unless the door is closed.

10. A supervisory mechanism as set forth in claim 3 in which means are provided for preventing closure of the valve unless the door is closed.

In testimony whereof We hereunto ailix our signatures.

CHARLES E. RENSHAV. HERBERT C. DAVIS. 

